New PR campaign " Going Postal"

TwinkieDong

Add the U.S. Postal Service to the list of federal agencies seeking to purchase what some Second Amendment activists say are alarmingly large quantities of ammunition.

Earlier this year, the USPS posted a notice on its website, under the heading "Assorted Small Arms Ammunition," that says: "The United States Postal Service intends to solicit proposals for assorted small arms ammunition. If your organization wishes to participate, you must pre-register. This message is only a notification of our intent to solicit proposals."

Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Washington-based Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, said: "We're seeing a highly unusual amount of ammunition being bought by the federal agencies over a fairly short period of time. To be honest, I don't understand why the federal government is buying so much at this time."

Jake McGuigan, director of state affairs and government relations for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, said widely reported federal ammunition purchases have sparked conspiracy-type fears among gun owners, who worry that the federal government is trying to crack down on Second Amendment rights via the back door by limiting the ammo available to owners.

It's not just the USPS that is stocking up on ammo.

A little more than a year ago, the Social Security Administration put in a request for 174,000 rounds of ".357 Sig 125 grain bonded jacketed hollow-point" bullets.

Before that, it was the Department of Agriculture requesting 320,000 rounds. More recently, the Department of Homeland Security raised eyebrows with its request for 450 million rounds — at about the same time the FBI separately sought 100 million hollow-point rounds.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also requested 46,000 rounds.

Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, asked: why exactly does a weather service need ammunition?

"NOAA — really? They have a need? One just doesn't know why they're doing this," he said. "The problem is, all these agencies have their own SWAT teams, their own police departments, which is crazy. In theory, it was supposed to be the U.S. marshals that was the armed branch for the federal government."

Armed federal employees are often assigned to offices of investigative services, the offices of inspectors general, or other equally bureaucratic agencies.

For instance, regular Internal Revenue Service agents aren't equipped with on-the-job guns — but those affiliated with the agency's Criminal Investigations Division are.

The same goes for workers with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, with the Department of Agriculture's Office of Inspector General, and with the Department of Education's Office of Inspector General.

The Energy Department, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Commerce Department, and the U.S. Agency for International Development are a few of the federal entities that boast an armed division, tasked with investigating fraud and suspected criminal activities. As such, the agents get to carry guns.

"Most of these agencies do have their own police forces," said Jim Wallace, executive director of the Massachusetts-based Gun Owners' Action League.

That, perhaps more than federal ammunition purchases, is the larger issue, he suggested, and Van Cleave agreed.

"What's the need for that? Do we really need this? That was something our Founding Fathers did not like and we should all be concerned about," Van Cleave said, speaking of the expansion of police forces throughout all levels of government.

The Department of Homeland Security employs in its various law enforcement entities — from the Coast Guard to the Secret Service to Customs and Border Protection — more than 200,000 workers, an estimated 135,000 of whom are authorized to carry weapons. When the agency makes its ammo buys, it often does so over the course of several years.

"We realize that the House is still investigating the ammo purchases by the administration, but from what we've seen so far, most representatives don't seem alarmed," said Erich Pratt, communications director for Gun Owners of America.

"For example, [Georgia Republican] Rep. Lynn Westmoreland said that given all the agencies that the Department of Homeland Security purchases for, "450 million rounds really is not that large of an order," Pratt said.

McGuigan acknowledged that there was a scarcity of ammo but attributed it more to a rise in purchases by individuals.

The Obama administration's stated desire to scale back gun rights drove more in the private sector to purchase firearms — which in turn fueled ammunition sales, McGuigan said.

"Over the last few years, there's been a tremendous increase in gun ownership, [with] many more females," McGuigan said. "I think a lot of people need to be aware of what's happening, and what the federal agencies are doing. I don't think, though, they need to be overly concerned that there's not going to be any ammo left."

But the notion of the Obama administration's using backdoor means to scale back gun ownership — a move that's hardly been kept secret — doesn't seem that outlandish to some.

"I don't believe in conspiracy theories, but it doesn't make a whole lot of sense," Gottlieb said. "The amount of ammunition they're buying up far exceeds their needs. It far exceeds what they'll use — they'll never use it all."

_AlabamaSlamma_

Jeez, if I wanted to read a freakin Novel about conspiracy theories, I'd go buy one of Michael Moore's books, or worse Bill "O'really", not read it on a fitness website. WTF?

chuckyp

My police department is even having a difficult time obtaining practice ammunition because of the shortage. I think it's a ploy by the feds to create an artificial shortage, and thereby create artificially high ammo prices which will price most average citizens out of the market. If this administration can't get the gun control it wants, it will achieve its goal by making ammunition very difficult to obtain instead.
I would believe it is because of the war if it was only military calibers that were experiencing a shortage, but it's all calibers, all the way down to .22 and .380 which the military and even federal agencies have no real use for. Or maybe the ammo manufacturers have tooled up to produce so much military caliber ammo, that they have drastically reduced their output of the smaller recreational and defensive calibers, creating a shortage that way. Either way, something's up.

sentaruu

Jeez, if I wanted to read a freakin Novel about conspiracy theories, I'd go buy one of Michael Moore's books, or worse Bill "O'really", not read it on a fitness website. WTF?

well it's a good thing you were blessed with free will then, eh?

TwinkieDong

Jeez, if I wanted to read a freakin Novel about conspiracy theories, I'd go buy one of Michael Moore's books, or worse Bill "O'really", not read it on a fitness website. WTF?

theories?? it is Facts. I have done my homework. For one I am in Contracts so I know how to read contracts by the Government. Secondly here is the list of Federal agencies employing more than 250 full-time personnel with arrest and firearm authority*

• U.S. Customs and Border Protection*
• Federal Bureau of Prisons*
• Federal Bureau of Investigation*
• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement*
• U.S. Secret Service*
• Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts*
• Drug Enforcement Administration*
• U.S. Marshals Service*
• Veterans Health Administration*
• Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation*
• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives*
• U.S. Postal Inspection Service*
• U.S. Capitol Police*
• National Park Service - Rangers*
• Bureau of Diplomatic Security*
• Pentagon Force Protection Agency*
• U.S. Forest Service*
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service*
• National Park Service - U.S. Park Police*
• National Nuclear Security Administration*
• U.S. Mint Police*
• Amtrak Police*
• Bureau of Indian Affairs*
• Bureau of Land Management*

Federal agencies employing fewer than 250 full-time personnel with arrest and firearm authority*

•Bureau of Engraving and Printing*
•Environmental Protection Agency*
•Food and Drug Administration*
•National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration*
•Tennessee Valley Authority*
•Federal Reserve Board*
•U.S. Supreme Court*
•Bureau of Industry and Security*
•National Institutes of Health*
•Library of Congress*
• Federal Emergency Management Agency*
•National Aeronautics and Space Administration*
•Government Printing Office*
•National Institute of Standards & Technology*
•Smithsonian National Zoological Park*
•Bureau of Reclamation*

Offices of inspectors general employing full-time personnel with arrest and firearm authority*

• U.S. Postal Service*
• Department of Health and Human Services*
• Department of Defense*
• Department of the Treasury, Tax Administration*
• Social Security Administration*
• Department of Housing and Urban Development*
• Department of Agriculture*
• Department of Labor*
• Department of Homeland Security*
• Department of Veterans Affairs*
• Department of Justice*
• Department of Transportation*
• Department of Education*
• General Services Administration*
• Department of the Interior*
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration*
• Department of Energy*
• Environmental Protection Agency*
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation*
• Small Business Administration*
• Department of State*
• Office of Personnel Management*
• Department of the Treasury*
• Tennessee Valley Authority*
• Department of Commerce*
• U.S. Railroad Retirement Board*
• Agency for International Development*
• Nuclear Regulatory Commission*
• Corporation for National and Community Service*
• National Science Foundation*
• National Archives and Records Administration*
• Government Printing Office*
• Library of Congress*

WendyTerry420

Jeez, if I wanted to read a freakin Novel about conspiracy theories, I'd go buy one of Michael Moore's books, or worse Bill "O'really", not read it on a fitness website. WTF?

Chit-Chat, Fun, and Games

TwinkieDong

chirp chirp

TwinkieDong

Lol, I should know by now.. unless it's a progress post, a 'rate the poster above you' (or something similar) or 'why am i not losing weight after exercising for 5 minutes, or '(insert random food/diet plan that's bad for you here)... then very few people care.. I feel there are a large amount of uneducated/uninformed people on this site. So I must remember- tits and *kitten*=lots of replies , anything that requires thought=a few smart *kitten* remarks and a dying thread.

Forty6and2

Don't be sad that you're scare-mongering didn't work. And if you are sad, just think of this dinosaur

InevitableButterfly

madhatter2013

or....

Forty6and2

Just some information for the OP in case he has kids. I found it on the internet, so it must be true!

bcoop911

Lol, I should know by now.. unless it's a progress post, a 'rate the poster above you' (or something similar) or 'why am i not losing weight after exercising for 5 minutes, or '(insert random food/diet plan that's bad for you here)... then very few people care.. I feel there are a large amount of uneducated/uninformed people on this site. So I must remember- tits and *kitten*=lots of replies , anything that requires thought=a few smart *kitten* remarks and a dying thread.

LMAO... this is SOOOO true... blows my mind man. Good thread, but most of the people in the chit-chat, fun, and games threads are bored, lonely, unsatisfied, and/or unemployed house wives or the dudes that want to perv on them with shirtless photos no matter how saggy their man boobs are. There isn't much intellect running around in here, but life goes on right? Thanks for the info, it is scary reading about that kind of stuff... hopefully this gets audited like the DHS buy did.